Help Me Catch Up

[Zeek 16,606]

So I haven't followed recruiting much the last few years but I'm trying to get back into it. Earnestly, I'm surprised we haven't gotten even more commits from big names after the last three weeks.

With that said I'm asking the following questions without an understanding of any players' situations so please fill me in because I'm trying to grapple with why we're not in the top 5 of recruiting and why we have zero 5 stars.

 

 

Patrick Surtain Jr. 5* CB in Ft Lauderdale, FL - seems to have a wide variety of teams he's looking at but we're not even in his top 5? Not curtain why such a player would be leaning towards LSU

 

Micah Parsons 5* WDE in Harrisburg, PA - now this kid makes sense. He seems to only be leaning towards northern teams and Bama hasn't been getting any traction with him.

 

Jamaree Salyer 5* OG in Atlanta, GA - we desperately need some lineman coming in to replace our four departing seniors. He's a stone's throw away and we aren't in his top 5? 

Terrace Marshall 5* WR in Bossier City, LA - another one that makes sense to me. Louisiana kids are hard to pull. My only argument is that we should at least he in consideration since LSU's passing offense is virtually non-existent.

Jackson Carman 5* OT in Fairfield, OH - I get he's an Ohio State homer but again this is a huge need and we're at least on his list.

Amon-Ra St. Brown 5* WR in Anaheim, CA - looks like he wants to stay in the west coast. Not a big concern here.

Anthony Cook 5* CB in Houston, TX - again a hard pull from Texas but I think our secondary could really use the help.

Cade Mays 5* OT in Knoxville, TN - not sure how Georgia is leading for him and we're not even on the list. Again, we quite desperately needed a huge OL recruiting class and if we can't get one Hand needs to go.

KJ Henry 5* WDE in Clemmons, NC - looks like a Clemson lock and I get that but we should be in contention for any big defensive player. We have been elite on that side of the ball.

Devon Williams 5* WR in Lancaster, CA - west coast lock. Not too concerned with that.

Tyson Campbell 5* CB in Ft Lauderdale, FL - we clearly need a presence in Ft Lauderdale lol. Another player who seems pretty open to multiple teams but we are listed as "cool". Just baffling.

Jalen Happ 5* WR and another west coast lock.

Isaac Taylor-Stewart 4* CB with no interest in us

Tanner McKee 4* QB and a west coast lock

Trey Hill 4* OG in Warner Robins, GA - I see we're in a battle with Georgia over him and he's been to see us knock off #1 twice. We have a need, he's seen the magic, and he pulled for us over Georgia. Commit man! This is the first player in the top 50 with any legitimate interest in Auburn and 247 has him at 34. That's concerning in my opinion.

Tyreke Johnson 4* S in Jacksonville, FL - completely baffled how we're not on this kid like white on Rice. We need to be pulling from Florida better is what I'm realizing. Seems like a good fit for us.

Eyabi Anoma 4* WDE in Baltimore, MD - not sure why he has a 100% hard on for only Bama but that's weird for a kid in Maryland to be 100% to someone like Bama. Did we make a push here?

Nicholas Petit-Frere 4* OT in Tampa, FL - this kid looks ripe for the taking with a great frame to build on. Not sure why we don't seem to have any pull with these Florida kids.

JJ Peterson 4* OLB in Moultrie, GA - what's his attachment to Alabama and have we tried here?

Jacob Copeland - 4* WR in Pensacola, FL - close enough for us to pull him. Seems like he's pretty open to playing anywhere. Again, appears to be no traction with Florida kids.

Justyn Ross 4* WR in PHENIX CITY, AL - 6'4" 201 lbs coming out of high school in our state and Clemson has a bigger pull? No sir. No way. Get this kid.

Don't take any of this the wrong way. Not trying to be negative just trying to get a feel for the recruiting landscape and our efforts.

[toddc 13,194]

Most of it covered, just takes time to find it. Seems like you answered most of your own questions!

[ellitor 33,062]

37 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I'm trying to grapple with why we're not in the top 5 of recruiting

Part of it is a down year in state.A bigger part of it is the mediocrre product we put on the field from 14-16 that created a lot of chatter on Gus's job security before 2 weeks ago & that permeated on the recruiting trail. Our rivals hammered us hard on the trail on Gus's job security causing a good number of recruits to not give AU a serious look and the ones who were to wait things out a bit on the season. BTW this reply applies to many of the questions you have.

 

43 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I'm surprised we haven't gotten even more commits from big names after the last three weeks.

Shouldn't be. We've been behind on a good number of them as stated above. You usually don't go from behind to committed immediately after 2 big wins no matter how big they are. Of the targets we were in the lead or right at the top with before the 1st UGA beat down we have gotten commits from all but Oladele & Trey Hill.

52 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Jamaree Salyer 5* OG in Atlanta, GA - we desperately need some lineman coming in to replace our four departing seniors. He's a stone's throw away and we aren't in his top 5? 

Reply 1 plus we are likely only taking 1 more OG in the class since we already have 1-2 & that spot is likely being saved for Trey Hill.

54 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Terrace Marshall 5* WR in Bossier City, LA - another one that makes sense to me. Louisiana kids are hard to pull. My only argument is that we should at least he in consideration since LSU's passing offense is virtually non-existent.

We only have 1 spot left at WR (2 if Schwartz acts fast enough) and that spot is reserved for Justyn Ross if he takes it.

55 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Jackson Carman 5* OT in Fairfield, OH - I get he's an Ohio State homer but again this is a huge need and we're at least on his list.

Not in our recruiting territory so hard to get traction in a state you don't recruit.

57 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Anthony Cook 5* CB in Houston, TX - again a hard pull from Texas but I think our secondary could really use the help.

Same answer as Carman

58 minutes ago, Zeek said:

Cade Mays 5* OT in Knoxville, TN - not sure how Georgia is leading for him and we're not even on the list. Again, we quite desperately needed a huge OL recruiting class

Reply 1. We are planning to take 4-5.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

if we can't get one Hand needs to go.

Seriously? Given how well he's gotten the OL to play given all the shifts & injuries?...SMDH

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

KJ Henry 5* WDE in Clemmons, NC - looks like a Clemson lock and I get that but we should be in contention for any big defensive player. We have been elite on that side of the ball.

Again. A state we don't recruit much. Plus we already have our pass rusher in the class in Jibunor.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Tyson Campbell 5* CB in Ft Lauderdale, FL - we clearly need a presence in Ft Lauderdale lol. Another player who seems pretty open to multiple teams but we are listed as "cool". Just baffling.

Reply 1

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Trey Hill 4* OG in Warner Robins, GA - I see we're in a battle with Georgia over him and he's been to see us knock off #1 twice. We have a need, he's seen the magic, and he pulled for us over Georgia. Commit man! This is the first player in the top 50 with any legitimate interest in Auburn and 247 has him at 34.

We likely lead & he has planned all along on committing the same day he signs on December 20th.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

This is the first player in the top 50 with any legitimate interest in Auburn and 247 has him at 34. That's concerning in my opinion.

No it's not. AU doesn't get a 5* every year. We have done better on that in recent years but the bottom line is this class will be littered with 4*s and be in the top 10-12 again. You can win championships with top 10-12 classes as we are proving this season.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Tyreke Johnson 4* S in Jacksonville, FL - completely baffled how we're not on this kid like white on Rice. We need to be pulling from Florida better is what I'm realizing. Seems like a good fit for us.

Reply 1.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Eyabi Anoma 4* WDE in Baltimore, MD - not sure why he has a 100% hard on for only Bama but that's weird for a kid in Maryland to be 100% to someone like Bama. Did we make a push here?

Bama is a national brand. Because of the mediocre last 3 seasons we are a regional brand. Plus this is another state we don't recruit much.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Nicholas Petit-Frere 4* OT in Tampa, FL - this kid looks ripe for the taking with a great frame to build on. Not sure why we don't seem to have any pull with these Florida kids.

Reply 1.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

JJ Peterson 4* OLB in Moultrie, GA - what's his attachment to Alabama and have we tried here?

Bama has pretty much been LBU. Yes we tried til about a month ago. We were #2 before the staff slowed on recruiting him.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Jacob Copeland - 4* WR in Pensacola, FL - close enough for us to pull him. Seems like he's pretty open to playing anywhere. Again, appears to be no traction with Florida kids.

We stopped recruiting him 6 months ago. Staff had high targets on the board.

1 hour ago, Zeek said:

Justyn Ross 4* WR in PHENIX CITY, AL - 6'4" 201 lbs coming out of high school in our state and Clemson has a bigger pull? No sir. No way. Get this kid.

Have you looked at Clemson's pass game over the years & our up through the early part of the season? If I was an in state WR recruit I would have been more interested in Clemson too.

In closing, this is not an old EA Sports NCAA Football video game were you could just cherry pick the kids you want with no prior connections in the area. The connections & brand have to be built up over time.

[Zeek 16,606]

54 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Part of it is a down year in state.A bigger part of it is the mediocrre product we put on the field from 14-16 that created a lot of chatter on Gus's job security before 2 weeks ago & that permeated on the recruiting trail. Our rivals hammered us hard on the trail on Gus's job security causing a good number of recruits to not give AU a serious look and the ones who were to wait things out a bit on the season. BTW this reply applies to many of the questions you have.

 

Shouldn't be. We've been behind on a good number of them as stated above. You usually don't go from behind to committed immediately after 2 big wins no matter how big they are. Of the targets we were in the lead or right at the top with before the 1st UGA beat down we have gotten commits from all but Oladele & Trey Hill.

Reply 1 plus we are likely only taking 1 more OG in the class since we already have 1-2 & that spot is likely being saved for Trey Hill.

We only have 1 spot left at WR (2 if Schwartz acts fast enough) and that spot is reserved for Justyn Ross if he takes it.

Not in our recruiting territory so hard to get traction in a state you don't recruit.

Same answer as Carman

Reply 1. We are planning to take 4-5.

Seriously? Given how well he's gotten the OL to play given all the shifts & injuries?...SMDH

Again. A state we don't recruit much. Plus we already have our pass rusher in the class in Jibunor.

Reply 1

We likely lead & he has planned all along on committing the same day he signs on December 20th.

No it's not. AU doesn't get a 5* every year. We have done better on that in recent years but the bottom line is this class will be littered with 4*s and be in the top 10-12 again. You can win championships with top 10-12 classes as we are proving this season.

Reply 1.

Bama is a national brand. Because of the mediocre last 3 seasons we are a regional brand. Plus this is another state we don't recruit much.

Reply 1.

Bama has pretty much been LBU. Yes we tried til about a month ago. We were #2 before the staff slowed on recruiting him.

We stopped recruiting him 6 months ago. Staff had high targets on the board.

Have you looked at Clemson's pass game over the years & our up through the early part of the season? If I was an in state WR recruit I would have been more interested in Clemson too.

In closing, this is not an old EA Sports NCAA Football video game were you could just cherry pick the kids you want with no prior connections in the area. The connections & brand have to be built up over time.

Thanks ellitor. I understand it's not as simple as pick and choose but I always imagine the recruits as a little more reactionary to who's hot at the moment.

Man do I miss some EA NCAA football though!

[ellitor 33,062]

7 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I always imagine the recruits as a little more reactionary to who's hot at the moment.

Maybe if a team's already near the top for a recruit but it takes relationships to win recruiting battles, typically 2 years at minimum. This season will have some effect on how this class finishes but it will have a bigger effect on opening the door for kids in future recruiting classes if AU can sustain the prosperity on the field.

[Mikey 16,545]

5 hours ago, Zeek said:

So I haven't followed recruiting much the last few years but I'm trying to get back into it. Earnestly, I'm surprised we haven't gotten even more commits from big names after the last three weeks.

.Cade Mays 5* OT in Knoxville, TN - not sure how Georgia is leading for him and we're not even on the list. Again, we quite desperately needed a huge OL recruiting class and if we can't get one Hand needs to go.
 

Hand needs to go? Have you watched AU football at all this year?

[toddc 13,194]

9 hours ago, toddc said:

Most of it covered, just takes time to find it. Seems like you answered most of your own questions!

 

10 hours ago, Zeek said:

So I haven't followed recruiting much the last few years but I'm trying to get back into it. Earnestly, I'm surprised we haven't gotten even more commits from big names after the last three weeks.

With that said I'm asking the following questions without an understanding of any players' situations so please fill me in because I'm trying to grapple with why we're not in the top 5 of recruiting and why we have zero 5 stars.

 

 

Patrick Surtain Jr. 5* CB in Ft Lauderdale, FL - seems to have a wide variety of teams he's looking at but we're not even in his top 5? Not curtain why such a player would be leaning towards LSU

 

Micah Parsons 5* WDE in Harrisburg, PA - now this kid makes sense. He seems to only be leaning towards northern teams and Bama hasn't been getting any traction with him.

 

Jamaree Salyer 5* OG in Atlanta, GA - we desperately need some lineman coming in to replace our four departing seniors. He's a stone's throw away and we aren't in his top 5? 

Terrace Marshall 5* WR in Bossier City, LA - another one that makes sense to me. Louisiana kids are hard to pull. My only argument is that we should at least he in consideration since LSU's passing offense is virtually non-existent.

Jackson Carman 5* OT in Fairfield, OH - I get he's an Ohio State homer but again this is a huge need and we're at least on his list.

Amon-Ra St. Brown 5* WR in Anaheim, CA - looks like he wants to stay in the west coast. Not a big concern here.

Anthony Cook 5* CB in Houston, TX - again a hard pull from Texas but I think our secondary could really use the help.

Cade Mays 5* OT in Knoxville, TN - not sure how Georgia is leading for him and we're not even on the list. Again, we quite desperately needed a huge OL recruiting class and if we can't get one Hand needs to go.

KJ Henry 5* WDE in Clemmons, NC - looks like a Clemson lock and I get that but we should be in contention for any big defensive player. We have been elite on that side of the ball.

Devon Williams 5* WR in Lancaster, CA - west coast lock. Not too concerned with that.

Tyson Campbell 5* CB in Ft Lauderdale, FL - we clearly need a presence in Ft Lauderdale lol. Another player who seems pretty open to multiple teams but we are listed as "cool". Just baffling.

Jalen Happ 5* WR and another west coast lock.

Isaac Taylor-Stewart 4* CB with no interest in us

Tanner McKee 4* QB and a west coast lock

Trey Hill 4* OG in Warner Robins, GA - I see we're in a battle with Georgia over him and he's been to see us knock off #1 twice. We have a need, he's seen the magic, and he pulled for us over Georgia. Commit man! This is the first player in the top 50 with any legitimate interest in Auburn and 247 has him at 34. That's concerning in my opinion.

Tyreke Johnson 4* S in Jacksonville, FL - completely baffled how we're not on this kid like white on Rice. We need to be pulling from Florida better is what I'm realizing. Seems like a good fit for us.

Eyabi Anoma 4* WDE in Baltimore, MD - not sure why he has a 100% hard on for only Bama but that's weird for a kid in Maryland to be 100% to someone like Bama. Did we make a push here?

Nicholas Petit-Frere 4* OT in Tampa, FL - this kid looks ripe for the taking with a great frame to build on. Not sure why we don't seem to have any pull with these Florida kids.

JJ Peterson 4* OLB in Moultrie, GA - what's his attachment to Alabama and have we tried here?

Jacob Copeland - 4* WR in Pensacola, FL - close enough for us to pull him. Seems like he's pretty open to playing anywhere. Again, appears to be no traction with Florida kids.

Justyn Ross 4* WR in PHENIX CITY, AL - 6'4" 201 lbs coming out of high school in our state and Clemson has a bigger pull? No sir. No way. Get this kid.

Don't take any of this the wrong way. Not trying to be negative just trying to get a feel for the recruiting landscape and our efforts.

You said CHH needs to go ?have you been paying any attention to the OL this season at all? Hope this is a misstatement on your part!

[milehighfan 1,239]

Was yesterday the first game in about three weeks he didn't have to make in game changes to the OL?

[thewhiz7 273]

We project that this class will fall outside of the top 10?

[ellitor 33,062]

10 minutes ago, thewhiz7 said:

We project that this class will fall outside of the top 10?

Depends on if we can flip a guy like Quay Walker & who we end up taking at CB.

[Randman5000 4,223]

@ellitorwho are we looking at for CB

[ellitor 33,062]

1 hour ago, Randman5000 said:

@ellitorwho are we looking at for CB

Savion Smith and a few others. Not sure a take has been identified beyond Smith.

[Zeek 16,606]

7 hours ago, toddc said:

 

You said CHH needs to go ?have you been paying any attention to the OL this season at all? Hope this is a misstatement on your part!

I didn't mean it as his coaching more of a dramatic statement on his recruiting. :/ Lol it was meant more as a "if you're having 4 seniors graduate from your position you best have more than one freshman coming in"

[mcgufcm 4,096]

I’d say one more explanation applies for a lot of those guys. We evaluated them and prefer the guys we went hard after. 

The best example is at Safety. We saw Tyreke Johnson and Smoke and Sherwood and Fuqua (and Joe Foucha). We have the three committed that we seemed to recruit the hardest. Another is Trey Hill. We’ve prioritized him over Salyer and Tank at the same position. 

Our staff, like all good staffs, does their own evals. I think we’ve landed a lot of the top targets on our board. 

[ellitor 33,062]

52 minutes ago, mcgufcm said:

I’d say one more explanation applies for a lot of those guys. We evaluated them and prefer the guys we went hard after. 

In some cases yes but it's hard to know which ones that applies to.

52 minutes ago, mcgufcm said:

Another is Trey Hill. We’ve prioritized him over Salyer and Tank at the same position. 

It wasn't a matter of us preferring Trey over Sayler. We tried to get involved with Sayler early but he had no interest in AU so the staff moved on.

52 minutes ago, mcgufcm said:

I think we’ve landed a lot of the top targets on our board. 

On the same token. Some guys become top targets because other guys the staff like are not interested. Again. Hard to know which ones sometimes.

[War to the Eagle 362]

How "in it" are we for Saivion?

[WarDamnEagleWDE 12,737]

5 minutes ago, War to the Eagle said:

How "in it" are we for Saivion?

Sitting pretty good. 

[mcgufcm 4,096]

@ellitor That’s fair. Tough to know unless you see or saw the board. Still, when you take early commits, those tend to be at or near the top of your board. But you’re right. It’s a two-way dance between our want and their interest. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,127]

13 hours ago, thewhiz7 said:

We project that this class will fall outside of the top 10?

It is already at 10 and most of the guys we might pickup are 4* so I expect us to move up a couple of spots.

[thaitopher 807]

Just 3 weeks ago this class was barely in the top 25. Its amazing what winning will do for a recruiting class. That saying that recruiting is about relationships and not winning is pretty far from accurate. 

[ellitor 33,062]

36 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

It is already at 10 and most of the guys we might pickup are 4* so I expect us to move up a couple of spots.

It's 11 actually & the average per recruit is 13th which is a bit below were AU has been in the Gus era. Also remember there may only be 7 spots left if we go ahead and add the punter to schollies #s. That will take away a spot from another position & hurt our overall score.

[ellitor 33,062]

9 minutes ago, thaitopher said:

Just 3 weeks ago this class was barely in the top 25. Its amazing what winning will do for a recruiting class. That saying that recruiting is about relationships and not winning is pretty far from accurate. 

Yeah. The kids we landed we already led with. Winning just probably secured them.

[thaitopher 807]

42 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Yeah. The kids we landed we already led with. Winning just probably secured them.

But a lot more kids are probably considering us now that weren't really that interested before our success on the field including, but not limited to:

1) Gourange;

2) Savion Smith

3) That guy from MS ST

 

 

[ellitor 33,062]

3 minutes ago, thaitopher said:

But a lot more kids are probably considering us now that weren't really that interested before our success on the field including, but not limited to:

1) Gourange;

2) Savion Smith

3) That guy from MS ST

Not a lot more. Just some more...for this class anyway. 2 & 3  listed above were already interested

[thaitopher 807]

Just now, ellitor said:

Not a lot more. Just some more...for this class anyway. 2 & 3  listed above were already interested

I left out Justin Ross, who was interested, but was probably headed to Clemson before we beat UGA and Bama. Now I would be surprised if we don't get him as well.